So a Half-Life game came out this year...

[dmshaposv]

...you know. The franchise people have been BEGGING to see a game for since 2007.

Now the game reviewed well, and to be fair to it, came out for a niche platform that limited who could actually play it.

But for me it's all those years of Valve downplaying the development of a Half Life game (in any shape or form) that people have forgotten this game even came out this year. What should've been the next gaming event was quickly forgotten so much that it didn't even get nominated in big end of year award shows. All because of how badly Valve managed the marketing behind their biggest IP.

The return of Half Life wasn't a bang, but a whimper.

 

[snausages]

It's really not the marketing though, it's the inaccessibility of VR.

You need a beefy PC, a decent amount of living space (ideally, if not mandatory) and of course the device itself.

It's just not attainable for most people

 

[City 17]

Had it not been VR-only, you'd have seen it in all these (pointless) award shows.

 

[Pein]

I feel like nobody gave a rats ass about kingdom hearts 3 after it came out either.

You draw the fuck outta these games that people asked for years and than its forgotten quickly. If they ever do a non vr release I'll play it.

 

[*Splinter]

Seems to be regarded as one of if not the best game released for VR, and a must-play for anyone with a compatible headset.

Not sure what you were hoping for but that sounds good to me.

 

[ClickyCal']

It was "forgotten" because it's VR.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

it was my personal GOTY by far!!! and my first "mario 64" moment since the dreamcast for me personally (would that make it the "dreamcast moment? hah)

 

[Bradford]

It is nominated for tons of awards?

I feel like the premise of this thread is faulty, lol. People actively talk about HLA and it got a ton of press and buzz.

 

[Kickfister]

It's really not the marketing though, it's the inaccessibility of VR.

You need a beefy PC, a decent amount of living space (ideally, if not mandatory) and of course the device itself.

It's just not attainable for most people

Click to shrink...

It's a good seated experience as well, in fairness. I don't disagree with you though, just thought that was worth mentioning :p

 

[Marossi]

It's really not the marketing though, it's the inaccessibility of VR.

You need a beefy PC, a decent amount of living space (ideally, if not mandatory) and of course the device itself.

It's just not attainable for most people

Click to shrink...

This.

I still haven't played and don't know if I will ever play it.

 

[tioslash]

An incredible experience regardless. Loved every second of it.

 

[Randomly Generated]

These "A game came out that didn't meet my arbitrary personal expectations" threads are always so weird. It reviewed well, it moved VR headsets, and people who played it overwhelmingly liked it. I doubt Valve cares that a video game award show didn't give it an award.

 

[Secretofmateria]

Innaccessibility is the issue here. It requires
A decently beefy pc on top of not inexpensive vr equipment. Plus its limited in its reach. Its not like half life 2, which came not only to pc, but xbox, xbox 360, and ps3 as well. Most of my friends, myself included, played half life 2 in the orange box on 360 or ps3

 

[GrrImAFridge]

I don't think it's surprising that a high-end PCVR game is, to some extent, flying under the awards radar. PCVR in general is under-represented in gaming media, and in select cases I suspect other games are being nominated in its stead because of concern there'd be vocal pushback on the basis it's a game "nobody" can play (e.g. Doom Eternal being nominated for GOTY at the TGAs).

 

[Shroki]

There won't be a VR exclusive title that breaks through until VR is everywhere, and that may never happen. The fact that it also released right at the start of this Coronavirus shit doesn't help either.

It seemed to have done as well as they could have expected, though. And it's my personal GOTY by a margin.

 

[Adrifi]

That's what happens when 99% of people who want to play it can't be bothered to buy a VR headset, the game kinda launches and gets little repercussion and discussion online.

 

[strudelkuchen]

Black Mesa also "came out"!

 

[TubaZef]

And from what I've heard it's one of the best games of the year.

Kinda sad that it's so inaccessible.

Truth be told about game awards, they center a lot around a specific type of game with mobile and VR stuff being vastly ignored.

 

[C.Mongler]

I mean I forget shit like Doom Eternal and AC came out this years sometimes; it's been a weird fucking year for starters.

But yeah it's not exactly an accessible title either, which is certainly making its notoriety slip way more under the radar.

It's the best VR game that exists though, so I certainly won't blame them for just goin' for it despite it being kind of a shot in the foot to itself.

 

[Fiery Phoenix]

VR is still largely inaccessible, so in practice it feels like we never got a HL game.

 

[Asbsand]

Not a fan of what it does with the story. Still looked and felt authentic otherwise. Hopefully it succeeds nicely without Marc Laidlaw, but I really think he was the source of that mystical quality that drew me to the IP originally.

 

[Deleted member 28523]

its the highest rated game of the year?? stop taking corporate award shows seriously.

 

[gogojira]

It's almost like it released exclusively on a platform most people don't have access to.

 

[kyle mechlachlan]

This seems a bit weird. It came out the same month that literally everyone went into lockdown and money became tight. Yet despite that it caused the Index to be sold out for months due to demand.

They wanted to make a high end VR experience and they succeeded.

But this year is weird.

 

[BossAttack]

Yeah, let me shell out 1k just to play a HL prequel.

 

[Crono]

Its because it is due to vr. I played it and I will not forget it. I loved it just as much as I did when I played hl back in the day and when I installed steam for hl2 for first time

 

[Trey]

It was a pretty big deal and engendered a lot of discussion in a bunch of gaming spheres. I think just so many dramatic things occured in 2020 that it feels like a dimmer event than it really might have been.

 

[Ocarina_117]

There's a huge barrier to entry to play it, unfortunately.

 

[spineduke]

It's really not the marketing though, it's the inaccessibility of VR.

You need a beefy PC, a decent amount of living space (ideally, if not mandatory) and of course the device itself.

It's just not attainable for most people

Click to shrink...

I played Alyx just fine on a PC from 2015, fyi. This whole "beefy pc" thing isn't true. I do agree that the price of the VR hardware has to be more accomodating, but the Quest lineup is very much there in terms of price and quality.

 

[turbobrick]

Like others have said, its a VR game, which is the reason I haven't played it, and might never play it.

 

[Rolodzeo]

VR makes the game basically unavailable for the vast majority of its potential players, myself included.

 

[grand]

The obstacles of VR were bad enough. The obstacles of VR during COVID were impossible to overcome.

It was the yin to Animal Crossing's yang

 

[Jaypah]

Was saving this for a new PC, and now I have it so it's time to buy this. Thanks for the reminder OP!

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

pretty easily the best (not enhanced re-release) game of the year

 

[Halbrand]

I don't fault Valve for wanting to keep it VR only but it on consoles and there will be a huge surge of popularity.

I've been waiting for a Half-Life sequel for over ten years but I'm not even watching the videos for this until I can play it, hopefully with PSVR2. Once that happens I'll be there day 1.

 

[Anno]

It came out to near-universal acclaim, will be nominated for plenty of awards and is incredibly popular with the people who play the platform that it's on. Idk what else Valve could do.

 

[King Kingo]

...you know. The franchise people have been BEGGING to see a game for since 2007.

Click to shrink...

But it's not Half Life 3.

 

[jimboton]

To be honest it's hardly Valve's fault if Alyx is not chosen for the VGAs while stuff like Ghost of Tsushima is.

 

[Nappuccino]

Access is a major determinate in something's lasting appeal. If people haven't played it, they won't advocate for it.

It's why amazing indie artists and movies rarely get featured at the Oscars or Grammys.

 

[Hong]

Obviously there's not a lot of buzz around it, few people played it. It was the best VR game when it came out and it still is. Everyone that's interested in VR will probably play it at some point. Also... what's there to talk about? It released and it's good.

it didn't even get nominated in big end of year award shows

Click to shrink...

What do you mean? What award shows? There is The Game Awards, where it got nominated. What else? From what I can find lots of websites haven't made their nominees/winners public yet. Most websites are probably waiting on Cyberpunk.

Edit: Also it's the best selling VR game. So it's not a marketing fail. I really don't get your point OP. Can you elaborate further on why you think Alyx was a whimper and why it matters?

 

[GavinUK86]

Because it's VR, plain and simple. If it wasn't, everyone would still be talking about it and it would probably win every award it's nominated for. Most of us noped the fuck out as soon as VR was mentioned. If they release a non VR version, or if they do another regular Half-Life game everyone will be all over it.

 

[aceldama]

It would be interresting if videogame awards published a full disclosure both of how their judges voted and how many of the nominated games the judges actually played. Of course they would never do that because it would delegitimise the awards when it became known many of the judges don't play all the nominated games so can't have truly voted objectively.

And that, in a winding way, is why Half Life Alyx wasn't nominated at all- not because it isn't really good but because most games journalists haven't played it because they don't have the hardware to play it.

 

[thisismadness]

I doubt it has much to do with marketing. It released on a niche platform in a niche gaming market. Game of the Year is largely a popularity contest, so its no surprise that it doesnt get much attention outside of VR specific categories.

 

[Asklepios]

It's sure to win some GOTYs (going by reviews) although yes most people (including me) didn't play it.

But you know having played Black Mesa for the first time this year I loved it. So whenever they put it up on PSVR 2 or whatever is gonna be the best selling VR thing this decade...valve games age alright.

 

[DarkSora]

Last I checked, it wasn't Half Life 3 and only playable in VR?

 

[Tohsaka]

I don't have a VR device and don't plan on getting one anytime soon, so it may as well not have come out at all to me.

 

[Madjoki]

I feel like covid did no favors to, due to unavailability of VR arcades as cheap way to play.

True GOTY 2020 though.

Yeah, let me shell out 1k just to play a HL prequel.

Click to shrink...

Did this, no regrets.

 

[Garlador]

VR is still largely inaccessible, so in practice it feels like we never got a HL game.

Click to shrink...

We all know why an otherwise good game has been ignored, and it's because as a VR game, it just isn't as mainstream or accessible as other games.

Guess what? I don't have a VR headset. I like Half-Life. I'd like to play Half-Life Alyx. No, I don't feel compelled to spend hundreds of dollars on a VR headset or upgrade my PC just for this one game.

And that's the situation for the vast majority of players.

It reminds me of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure or Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - both legitimately good games, but if you want the best experience you have to have a ton of extra hardware, and at some point that hurdle is just too costly or inconvenient for most players, no matter how fun the games are.

I STILL wish I could play Half-Life Alyx easily. I've waited a LONG time for a proper new Half-Life game.

But I'm not in a position to do so at this time. Maybe never.

 

[SigSig]

It's the best game of the year by far.

 

[shodgson8]

Wonderful game that will probably just about be my personal GOTY however inaccessibility will always be a significant issue and I am not really surprised it wouldn't top broader lists.